Lucidity would simply be about grief and loss if it were a book or a movie. The protagonist, Sofi, is a young girl who loses her grandmother and then determinedly journeys to find her while struggeling to come to terms with her death. Lucidity is a not passive linear media, however, but instead is a game, and its specific gameplay is very much about quick thinking and adaptation, as the player is asked to help Sofi navigate constantly changing environments using a continually randomized set of tools.

These themes from story and gameplay seem to be oddly paired, especially at first. As the game begins, and Sofi starts marching forward on her own, the player is taught how to use certain tools to keep her safe until she reaches the end of the environment. Sofi is not entirely helpless (she’ll climb up small rises with ease), and the game might look much like it belongs in the platformer genre when viewed from a distance, albeit one that plays itself. If left alone, however, Sofi will die, and on later levels, die often, falling victim to giant enemies and treacherous falls. It will be up to you to keep her away from those living dust bunnies and spiky pits by placing things like staircases, fans and slingshots in her path, enabling her to jump and climb past danger.

Lucasarts described Lucidity as a “challenging puzzler,” and, well, I agree. The puzzle to be solved is fairly straightforward: get Sofi to the end of the level safely, navigating through a sometimes dangerous environment and around always dangerous creatures. I think it is important to point out that this particular puzzler does not derive its challenge from obscure solutions or mind-twisting scenarios; indeed, the game thrives on offering the player a multitude of solutions at any given moment. If the ground is covered in deadly plants, you might slingshot Sofi past them, build stairs to let her climb over them, place a jump pad to let her climb to a higher level of platforms, or bomb the plants out of existence. All of these actions would probably work with some degree of success. The challenge lies in choosing the best solution with the current tools available, and then in implementing the solution before Sofi runs into danger. The time pressure makes the relatively straightforward problem solving thrilling.

Lucidity deals with is treatment of grief by cleverly separating the bereaved character from the player, casting the player as the one helping the main character through her pain. The player must continually adapt while the playing field and pieces change, as Sofi must learn to adapt to the concept of death. The symbolic journey does falter a bit toward the end as the narrative pulls apart from the gameplay, unfortunately.

There are a few technical quirks that impact the experience enough that they bear mentioning. Because gameplay essentially involves placing level pieces on a grid, a gamepad offers a smoother experience here compared to a mouse (having a mouse cursor constantly snapping to a grid is an alien and unnerving sensation).

Lucidity is basically a platformer with a tetris mechanic, in which you have to cross levels and collect fireflies. You don't control the girl, who's always moving forward--you just lay down pieces to build a path for her. I wouldn't call it a puzzle game, though.

I'll go straight to pros and cons:

👍 Graphics are cute.👍 Music is pleasant.👍 A lot of content. It supposedly has 27 levels, and that's a lot of levels, since they're long and you'll have to repeat them if you want to 100% the game.

± It has some back story going on, but it's underdeveloped. The intro didn't make any sense. You're reading stories, then you fall asleep close to your grandma, then you wake up and start running forever after a red firefly that's eaten by a frog.

👎 The gameplay mechanic falls short and really gets boring after 1 or 2 levels. You basically get a piece, which you put in the environment or save for later (only one), and then you'll get a new one. Pieces are unlimited, so I found that the best way to succeed was laying down tons of pieces without thinking too much about it. And that's where this game lost its potential charm. Basically, doing everything fast pays off more than thinking about what you're doing.👎 Beating a level is way too easy, while mastering it (getting all fireflies) is way too repetitive, and sometimes hard, because it's luck-dependent.👎 Sometimes you have to replay the whole level just for one firefly you've missed. The bad thing is that she moves at a very slow pace, and you can't fast-forward. It got boring really fast.👎 Health system is a bit weird. I couldn't figure out how my health was, some enemies hit you and you're sure they aren't able to, sometimes you think you've been hit because the girl moans when she falls or climbs, so this part is a mess.👎 Sometimes it's hard to position a piece when the girl is jumping or falling. It feels a bit awkward.

Basically, this game is really boring and repetitive. Don't be fooled by the LucasArts hype, or by that line up there in the description, saying "From the team that re-imagined The Secret of Monkey Island™, comes Lucidity, an addictive puzzle platformer set in the surreal childlike dreamscapes of the little girl Sofi". It has nothing to do with Monkey Island, it doesn't feel like a puzzle, and it's really boring, and not one bit addictive. Don't be fooled by the cute graphics. Another reviewer called this game a "polished turd", and they're right.

7 of 7 people (100%) found this review helpful1 person found this review funny

Recommended

61.7 hrs on record

Posted: February 5, 2011

Lucidity is a short game in which you fate of Sofi; a little girl who is searching for her grandma. Although the game may look like a platformer, it is actually more of a puzzle game as you do not actually control Sofi but place objects in her path which cause her to change her behaviour. This is a very short game - you can easily complete it within a couple of hours - but to get the most out of this game, it is worthwhile 100%ing it by collecting all the fireflies you can. It will only take a few more hours to do so, but the challenge is worth it.

Gameplay takes a back seat to the art direction on this beautiful and endearing game. It's a short and somewhat inexpensive game, but I can only recommend this if you really are interested in this game's atmosphere, story and soundtrack. Otherwise it's just a clunky puzzle-platformer on rails.

A combination of platformer and Tetris. Character moves forward at a constant pace. Place various puzzle pieces in the level to keep the girl from falling. Beautiful artwork and all around lovely game. A real work of art. Definitely worth buying.

5 of 6 people (83%) found this review helpful1 person found this review funny

Recommended

0.6 hrs on record

Posted: July 7, 2011

Lucidity could've been so much more than it is today. I expected a cute, little puzzle platformer and, in a way, it is (especially the graphics look cute), but I expected a platformer where I could move MYSELF, instead of the game moving the character for me. It's basically an on-rails platformer, and you just give directions to the character. And the goal is to collect as many fireflies as you can. Cute, but nothing else.

Don't bother. I liked the concept, but controls are frustrating. I don't mind failing at puzzle games when I am to blame, but when I constantly feel like I fail because of problems in the programming, then I'm done playing.

This game tells the story of a little girl named Sofi who is coming to terms with the death of her grandmother. Sofi constantly walks forward through levels of her dreams and you have to place objects in front of her to make sure she gets to the end of each dream level safely. Along the way you need to collect fireflies by shaping her path towards them. Each level will take multple tries to cover all the possible paths to collect all the fireflies, but it's very rewarding to get every last elusive firefly as they will reveal additional levels. This is such a simple game, but it's very nicely designed and quite addictive once you get the hang of it.

This game is short. It's cute but suprisingly not that easy. It's also impossible to get 100% completion. Unless you try forever. Good game, but I personally wouldn't shell out money for it (it was a gift)

An otherwise solid game set back by a completely broken game mechanic. It's a nice idea but just doesn't work. This should have been canned when the first playable prototype was made. I can only imagine that the team didn't realise this until there was too much invested in it.